State Appellate Judges: Your judicial opinions are important to us, and we are profoundly grateful to your court for their transmittal. Typically, your opinions are provided to us by the Clerk of Court or Court Administrator.
Alternative methods for transmitting opinions include email and FTP (file upload). For more information: You may submit interesting decisions for inclusion on Westlaw. Lower federal court decisions may also be included in the National Reporter system.
Lower federal court decisions may also be included in the National Reporter system. Electronic submissions make opinion processing more efficient, so electronic submission is encouraged. If your opinions or the attachments cannot be sent electronically, address them to:
The judge field, for example, is only available when searching caselaw or trial court orders. Let’s walk through the steps you would follow to search by judge. 1. Click into either Cases or Trial Court Orders from the Westlaw or Westlaw Edge homepage. Then select the Advanced link to the right of the search bar to go to the template.
Click KeyCite at the top of any page to display the KeyCite page. Then type a citation in the KeyCite this citation text box and click Go. Click the KeyCite status flag in a document header or next to a document's citation.
To retrieve multiple cases by citation, type up to 30 citations, separated by semicolons, in the Global Search bar and click Search. To retrieve a case by party names, begin entering the party names in the Global Search bar, click the Cases section in the drop-down and select the case.
The Advanced Searching option is available by clicking on Show Advanced Options on the searching screen of WestLaw. Click on the Connectors/Expanders link below the Search box to see a more complete listing of connectors.
The main search bar at the top of the screen will search across all of the headnotes within the Key Number System. This is helpful to find headnotes related to your issue and then see where they are classified within the Key Number System.
Type your query in the Search text box and click Search Westlaw. For assistance using Westlaw, call 1-800-WESTLAW (1-800-937-8529). For free reference materials, visit west.thomson.com /westlaw/guides. To search for a phrase, place the phrase in quotation marks.
attorney +s fee. The first search term must precede the second term in the same sentence. /n. personal /3 jurisdiction.
When you are signed into either Lexis or Westlaw, you can also select the content type (e.g., Cases) and then click on the Advanced Search link to get a guided form with the fields available for that content type.
Oftentimes, a case will have more than one reporter listed because they are published in more than one place. This is called parallel citation; you will find the case in both reporters. State case citations usually indicate the deciding court and year in a parenthetical following the reporter citation.
Enter the name of any topic available in Westlaw on the Topics tab, followed by a colon and your search terms. Advanced. Advanced: conversion and elements. Adv: Conversion and elements. To indicate a Boolean search.
Headnotes and Key Numbers are editorial enhancements that you can use to find additional cases addressing similar issues. Headnote: A brief summary of a legal rule or significant facts in a case.
For each major issue, the editor then writes a short description called a headnote. These headnotes are typically found at the beginning of each opinion and help the reader quickly determine the issue(s) discussed in the case.
In academic writing, footnotes, endnotes, and headnotes provide additional information on a particular topic. They are placed in the document as a supplement to the main text. These notes can be inserted into the document as a footer or at the end of a chapter. The notes should be kept as brief as possible.
Westlaw Today, powered by Reuters, provides timely and comprehensive news and exclusive analysis so you can know what happened and why it matters. By bringing together best-in-class legal content and award-winning journalism, you can confidently keep up with the latest developments and reinforce your value to clients.
See the latest news for the day at today.westlaw.com or right from Westlaw. Never miss an update with customizable practice area and company alerts delivered right to your laptop or mobile device.
Instantly access case docket information for federal and state courts in your jurisdiction, monitor the status of cases, and obtain court filings.
Evaluate expert witnesses, opposing counsel and their prior trial strategies, compelling legal arguments, and a judge’s prior experience on a matter.
Receive automatic alerts of new cases being filed that fit your practice and jurisdiction to give you a better chance at representing a party.
Find key litigation events that exist within a docket by easily viewing motion and outcome data from Litigation Analytics.
Westlaw Edge combines advanced artificial intelligence with 100 years of editorial enhancements to help you find answers faster and build stronger legal arguments. Plus, you can feel more confident that your research is complete with access to the most comprehensive collection of legal information.
Search opinions from the Supreme Court of Virginia (6/9/95 – present) and the Court of Appeals of Virginia (published opinions from 5/2/95 – present, and unpublished opinions from 3/5/02 – present)
By Date Issued (since 6/9/95) Effective immediately, the Supreme Court of Virginia will no longer hold opinions for release during a session of Court following oral argument. Instead, opinions will be released when deemed ready by the Justices and will typically be issued and posted on the Court's website on a Thursday.
Search the Opinions Database on the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission website. Note: These two links are not part of Virginia's Judicial System website.
Attorney editors organize Notes of Decisions into broader headings and then into more precise topics so you can easily navigate directly to the most relevant Notes of Decisions for your issue .
Now that you have located the statutory section you need, there are two easy ways you can access the Notes of Decisions: Click the “Notes of Decisions” tab. Scroll through the document and click “View all” Notes of Decisions below the statutory text.
First, let’s find the Illinois long-arm statute. Select Illinois as your jurisdiction and search the terms “long-arm statute.” Once the results load, select “Statutes & Court Rules” on the left-hand side .
Notes of Decisions are annotations written by attorney editors that summarize important cases interpreting a statute or regulation, giving you a more complete picture of how the law has been applied.
1. Click into either Cases or Trial Court Orders from the Westlaw or Westlaw Edge homepage. Then select the Advanced link to the right of the search bar to go to the template. 2.
If a judge has been involved in similar cases, you can provide a brief summary rather than providing extensive background information and spend more time on your argument. Knowing this information up front will help you save a significant amount of time and energy.
It is important to know a few things about your judge before every case . First, you need to know the judge’s familiarity with the context of your case. Has the judge handled cases on this type of situation in the past? Have they written opinions on this particular subject matter? Second, it is important to investigate past rulings, and understand which way a judge typically leans on your matter. Third, a timeline for how long a judge takes to rule on a case is important for managing client expectations and costs. Litigation Analytics on Westlaw Edge provides the most insight on a judge’s time to rule, outcomes, and more.
Field searching is a Boolean terms and connectors search that looks for specific terms in a particular part of the document–the title or author fields, for example. Field searching is incorporated into Westlaw and Westlaw Edge through the Advanced templates always linked at the top of the page to the right of the search bar.
legal cases by particular judge or entity. The best way for an attorney to ensure that they are relying on arguments that reflect the true nature of the law is to use KeyCite on Westlaw and Westlaw Edge.
It is important to know the judge’s background on a case so that you can use your time as effectively, both in court and while you are preparing for a case. If a judge has been involved in similar cases, you can provide a brief summary rather than providing extensive background information and spend more time on your argument. Knowing this information up front will help you save a significant amount of time and energy.
Switching practice areas in law means you’ll be a student all over again. Get ready to study! Alycia spends 30 minutes a day studying case law, regulations, and other information about family law not related to current cases.
The best way to find out about a different practice area is to talk to lawyers practicing in that area. Leverage your professional networks to find lawyers practicing in the area you’re interested in. Take them out for coffee, ask what their day-to-day is like. Maybe even spend a day at the office with them if they’re up for it.
The reason? You may be able to uncover efficiencies or make changes in your existing practice, and that’s much easier than taking on an entirely new practice area.
To find a mentor, Alycia suggested looking for those who’ve put themselves out there as leaders in your new practice area community and starting conversations with them.
Think about areas where your current practice area may overlap with your new one. (Are cases billed the same way? Are cases structured in a similar way?)
So interested, in fact, that you think about changing legal practice areas. Switching practice areas in law is certainly possible. If you find a different practice area that’s more fulfilling, investing in making the switch is certainly worth it .
But a reactive change may not be the answer. Only change legal practice areas (or add a new one) if it makes sense for the long term.